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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Silly bands as a character training tool?

One of the many reasons we homeschool is to insulate our children from meaningless fads such as this one. Unfortunately our kids pick up on them from their friends at church or in the neighborhood. Silly bands is the latest of these fads. At first I was impressed with how the girls and their friends traded and shared their silly bands with one another, but then two things started happening. 1.) I started finding silly bands or pieces of silly bands all over- in the car, on my living room floor, in the bathroom, everywhere! 2.) The green eyed monster started rearing its ugly head. Measle (7) began accusing Twinkle Toes (9) of stealing her silly bands and vice versa. Silly bands became the subject of many an argument, rather than an object for sharing.

My first instinct was to get rid of all the silly bands, but that wouldn't really solve our problems. Essentially our girls' problems are 1.) irresponsibility and 2.) greed and selfishness. Of course, these problems would continue even in the absence of silly bands.

So... here's what I've come up with:

Each girl gets to choose 5 silly bands from the pile (that were previously hers, not her sister's). Then they have one week to show me they can be responsible with them (ie keep them on their wrists or put away in their room) and not fight over them. If at the end of the week they have proven able to keep up with their silly bands and able to get along with one another and not fighting over their silly bands then I will let them choose 5 more. If they fail the test, I take the five original silly bands back and we wait a week before trying again.

What do you think? I'll let you know how it turns out. Yes, this will be a lot more trouble than just confiscating all their silly bands, but hopefully it will help my girls to learn responsibility and motivate them to work harder at giving one another the benefit of the doubt and to strive toward selflessness rather than selfishness. I care a whole lot more that my girls be loving and responsible than whether or not they have silly bands!

4 comments:

I do not like these little things. My daughter found out about them from a friend at church too! I still have yet to buy her any. But my mom , not even knowing what they are, bought some for her. She wears them, but I refuse to pay 5 dollars for a small pack of them. I think though that some times it is good to know when to use these things as teachable moments and when to get rid of them!:)

Good idea about the silly bands....let us know how it all turns out.How's the new baby?

Now, don't make fun of me for organizing my Christmas! You know that it's my hobby! Ha!I keep the binder and do a little bit at a time to simplify. I am very careful about the gifts my children receive......I want quality, not a bunch of junk that I am going to throw out in a month or so. My mother and mother in law both ask me to shop for them for gifts for my children. Thankfully! Or they would buy Barbies and Polly pockets and other such plastic things with millions of pieces. So, I carefully make notes of what my children need, and shop accordingly. I do enjoy beautifully wrapped gifts! My children and I also make handmade gifts for teachers and friends, and I always try to come up with something consumable if I can, so it doesn't collect dust at their house. Like personalized stationary (that we made one year), etc.Anyway, the Starbucks giftcards sound great!!

I think your plan sounds good. It's not silly bands that are inherently wrong but what sinful man (or child) does with them. I think you have identified a sin problem and have a good, do-able plan to deal with it. My boys like them, though we jumped on the silly bandwagon much later than most. We haven't had many problems, but we do have regulations. We have seen it as a character-training tool, but I guess it comes down to whether you feel like you're seeing advancement in character or feeling bogged down by having to keep up with the rules.

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I'm an on-the-run mom to 6 kids who studied and taught exercise science in a previous life. I love all things running, nutrition, and health-related. I usually run at zero dark thirty in the morning and am often quite hungry before, during, and after my run, but I live a rich, full, blessed life with my children, family, and friends. My faith in God is my anchor, and looking to Him and His promises allows me to live fully even when life circumstances are difficult. While running gives me an appetite, my desire is to hunger and thirst for righteousness more than for physical food.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm a mom to six brilliant, adorable, and hilarious kids. Their dad and I are recently divorced and I have entered a new era of single parenthood. I'm still the same person, with many of the same interests, though I'm no longer homeschooling my kids. I've been doing a lot of running over the last year, culminating in two recent ultra-marathon trail runs, and have registered for my first Ironman triathlon which will be in Boulder, CO August 3, 2014. I still love to read and can be found experimenting in my kitchen on most days. My kids keep me humble and they keep me laughing! I am blessed.